Rio Tinto to pause Serbia's Jadar lithium mine; Vale aims to supply US carmakers

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* Rio Tinto Group will pause its Jadar lithium mine after the town council of Loznica, Serbia, voted to suspend a regional development plan allowing the project's development, Reuters wrote, citing a Beta news agency report quoting Rio Sava Exploration CEO Vesna Prodanovic. During the pause, Rio will have talks with the public about the project, Prodanovic said.

* Vale SA aims to become a key supplier of battery materials to U.S. carmakers, London's Financial Times reported, citing CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo. Vale reached an agreement to sell 5% of its annual production of class one nickel to a U.S. automotive manufacturer, which is said to be Tesla Inc., and is in talks with other manufacturers, including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., to supply the necessary nickel, copper and cobalt for their electric vehicles.

➤ Market value of metals, mining companies falls 4.8% through November

A majority of the top 25 companies recorded drops in market capitalization during a period plagued by turbulent markets, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

➤ Hawsons targets green steel market with A$200M financing for prolonged project

Hawsons Iron Ltd. has more line of sight on its participation in the green steel supply chain after securing a A$200 million finance package, which is proof of investors' confidence now that board stability exists, according to its executive chairman.

➤ Omicron surge hits Canadian gold miner, could put brakes on deals

The Canadian mining industry has largely avoided major impacts to operations from the omicron variant of COVID-19, but exploration executives said they could see it hampering due diligence.

BASE METALS

* Codelco requested arbitration by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes over Enami EP's failure to comply with obligations over a joint development deal on the Llurimagua copper project in Ecuador.

* Vale's Vale Exploration Canada Inc. formed an initial two-year partnership with Mundoro Capital Inc. focused on generating new projects in Arizona and New Mexico that may host porphyry copper and related metals deposits. The two parties plan to enter into a definitive agreement in the first quarter of 2022.

* The Chumbivilcas community will meet with Peruvian Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez and representatives of MMG Ltd. on Dec. 30 to negotiate a proposal to address grievances related to MMG's Las Bambas copper mine, Luis Huamaní, president of the Fighting Committee for the Mining Corridor, told local daily La República.

* Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. will acquire the combined 36% stake of Mitsui & Co. Ltd.'s Mitsui & Co. Mineral Resources Development (Asia) Corp. and Sojitz Corp. in Coral Bay Nickel Corp. for about ¥19 billion to increase its ownership of the Coral Bay HPAL project in the Philippines to 90% from 54%.

* Giga Metals Corp. temporarily suspended a drilling program at its copper-prospective Corrente property in Brazil due to weather conditions. The program is expected to resume in February 2022.

PRECIOUS METALS

* KWG Resources Inc. expects US$656.7 million in capital costs for the construction of a 338-kilometer tramway system that will transport 10 million tonnes per year of chromite from the proposed underground mine at the Black Horse chromite project in Ontario's Ring of Fire to a potential processing facility near Nakina, Ontario.

* SSR Mining Inc. started commissioning and ramp-up activities at the sulfide plant flotation circuit of the Copler gold project in Turkey after receiving all required permits and approvals.

* The mill commissioning timeline for Fresnillo PLC and MAG Silver Corp.'s Juanicipio silver project was extended by about six months due to a setback in securing government approval to connect the project to the power grid.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Vale is reportedly eyeing up to a 40% stake or even a controlling interest in Anglo American PLC's Minas Rio iron ore project in Brazil, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Mechel PAO's mining facilities received about 270 equipment units in 2021 under its equipment revamp, including more than 80 large scale machines and assembly units.

* Most near-term scrap and rebar futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange saw losses over the week to Dec. 23, while trading volumes increased, S&P Global Platts reported.

S&P Global Platts and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 8 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.